2011-07-29 - Snakes Stop a Train
A subway train disabled in a tunnel is not an uncommon occurrence in Manhattan. It doesn't happen every day, but it happens, and is generally unremarkable other than the annoyance of needing to get an engineering car in to tug the offending train out of the way onto service tracks so that the rest of the trains can keep running unhindered. But it means that tunnel is largely shut down until that part is managed. Nothing to write home about, and certainly nothing to bother the like of the Sentinels. Right? A teenaged girl on a subway train is nothing special, even one who tries to dress and act as masculine as her quite feminine form will allow. Not well, as many have observed. Most just assume she's a tomboy who doesn't want to let go. Only a few ever twig to what is really going on. And no one generally bothers to pay much attention. Who cares, right? But when said teen spots something unusual going on /beyond/ the disabled train, that's where things get interesting. Trains moving around? That would be normal. A few subway mechanics? Sure. But two dozen guys? And what would they need /guns/ or masks for? So the teen decides to investigate, moving to the far end of the train. She sees just enough. Those on board the train are basically reading their books and papers, using their phones and laptops. They're ignoring what is going on outside the train. Why would it matter, after all? That all changes when a brilliant blue-white flash of light illuminates the tunnel up ahead, revealing the armored, heavily armed men wearing eerie gasmask-like affairs. That, and a figure in gleaming silvery armor, shield upraised, looking like nothing else but a knight out of some storybook, come to life. "Hold, villains!" It's just half an hour into rush hour when the call comes in from a subway police officer. "Shots fired, repeat, shots fired. Sounds like those crazy energy blasts! Don't know who the heck these guys are, but they're trying to kill that guy. He's holdin' 'em off, so far. Just planted his arse on the tracks, some kinda glowin' shield. Need backup, just two hundred meters north of Midtown Platform on the Green Line. I'm gonna try to evacuate the train out the rear doors. Send help, control, and fast!" Joy. The last time Iron Man fought in the subway, it wasn't easy. It's an incredibly confined space for somebody who tends to rely a lot on his flight and maneuverability. There are worse places. "Which tunnel are you in?" he asks the cop as he approaches the station. It will help him determine his literal angle of approach on the matter. Superboy is tired. He just finished a mission with Project Cadmus, before that, a very strange fight with his girlfriend where he distracted himself with setting up plans to repair Headquarters and review blue prints he doesn't understand for ideas, and before that? A battle with an alien where he called on Black Adam's power. The Kid is emotionally exhausted, and with Superman bogged down in red tape, he honestly doesn't know who to turn too. Right now, he's heading through the maintance tunnels to head toward headquarters when he hears the blasts fired. Wait..that's not right! Using his X-Ray vision and enhanced hearing, Superboy moves with unnatural speed through the maintance tunnels to find the source of the battle. Energy rifles, or gunfire? "Northbound tunnel, Green Line." the cop responds, having no real idea who it is he's explaining this to. He was asked, he tells. Just like he is trained. Superboy's vision and hearing will lead him to the scene easily enough, especially with the maintenance tunnels for access. What he sees should worry him: that appears to be a good dozen, perhaps as many as eighteen or twenty, men in Hydra-marked armor and trenchcoats, helmets and masks, with backpacks and heavy energy rifles. And right now more than half their number are lined up, blasting away at a glowing, shimmering field of blue-white energy, behind which he can make out a lone figure, like a knight in armor, shield upraised, braced as if holding them off from the train and the people on board. At the other end of the train, the subway cop is moving people as quickly as he can, evacuating the train and trying to get them up the tracks to the Midtown station and (hopeful) safety. Meanwhile, Iron Man roars down the *other* tunnel. He's hoping, of course, that he can find a crossover and come up behind whoever these people are. He knows whoever's down there isn't a Sentinel, or *they* would have been the one calling him not the cops. All he can do, thus, is hope they're competent and not an idiot. Well, at least it isn't pink Zoot suits, it's progress, right? Yellow is just /so/ much better! And these are an old version of energy rifles, and Superboy is seriously thankful about that right about now. He studies the defender for only a second, before Superboy is already moving. He can deflect laser blasts, but it's best not to tempt fate. Just a little bit down the way is an access maintance door, and as Superboy approaches it, he hears a strange rumble almost in the near distance. What is that?! Something to be aware of as he moves his red visor sunglasses atop his head briefly as he heat visions the lock and forces the door open with ease. It's quieter this way than breaking the lock manually. He leaves the door open as he moves up behind the HYDRA minions to see about borrowing a laser pack and gun. Awww man, this is about to get badly wicked, very quickly! Strangely, this entire time, Superboy isn't making quips like he normally does, or trying to show off. Then again, the sunglasses hide the tiredness and stress in his eyes, or the fact he's hurt and angry. It's a bad time to be peeving off Superboy right about now. Actually, the backpacks must be for something else. There's no connections between them and the rifles. And their uniforms aren't yellow. They're black. But it's definitely a bad time to be peeving off Superboy. A groan comes from behind that energy field, as the armored shield bearer drops to one knee, visibly straining beneath the continuous barrage of attacks. But even so, whomever he may be, he has kept that train and everyone onboard safe, all on his own, for a couple of minutes straight. That takes guts and determination. Right? (Well, OK. He could just be too damned stubborn and stupid to move. But let's think the best of him, shall we? It's the /heroic/ thing to do!) The Hydra shock troopers have split up by the time Superboy arrives behind their front rank. That front rank is still concentrated on the shield, blasting away. The second rank has split up into two teams, and they are slinking down the tunnel as quickly as they can jog. Two in the lead are waving about some lighted things in their hands, checking positioning readings. Mmm. Just twenty more meters and they'll be right beneath the Metropolis Bank. And...who just went through the maintenance door? Iron Man doesn't quite see, but its open, allowing him to get through to the tunnel. If he doesn't miss his sense of direction...right beneath the bank. Of course. It's been tried before... He doesn't need to worry about his eyes adjusting, not with the equipment he has built into the suit. What Iron Man will witness is a dangerous sight indeed. Superboy sees the metal figure going to their knees, and he has to work quick. The backpack of his chosen victim is ripped off and flung away when he realizes the gun isn't attached to it, Superboy then seizes the gun and uses it to knock said-victim silly and flying off into the guy next to him. Then with said club - why doesn't he just shoot the darn thing?! - he decides to play stick bowling. If the time was taken to ask Superboy, he would just say it was for the self-satisfaction of beating someone right about now. At least he finally speaks, "Of all, the stupid, and inane things, criminals can do. But to bring laser rifles in a /subway tunnel/, which causes a high risk of collapse. Are you all just clinically stupid?! Or just mentally deranged and sucidial?!" Oh, well, that's a valid reason for Superboy to not use the laser rifle against the bad guys. Still, there are a lot of them, and Superboy is going to need backup. Iron Man flies through the door Superboy left open, to find the S-shield-wearing young man in the midst of playing stickball with men in dark gear, using one of their own large energy rifles for a club. One disarmed, another knocked flat into the wall, a third hammered unconscious, helmet split with the force of the blow, and the Boy of Steel is still at it. But with this many attackers all around, this is just as likely to go very badly as to go very well. And apparently whomever has been maintaining that energy shield up ahead, near the train - and Iron Man's sensors do /not/ like looking at that shield one little bit - is now verging on collapse. It's a tight and dangerous situation. Even as the armored hero emerges into the midst of this, the shock troopers in the two teams that were looking for their target positions - likely proving they intentionally brought weapons that would pierce this tunnel and slice through things, since they were just prepping to do just that - turn, seeing Superboy's attack, and prepare to fire on the fast-moving target. A recipe for disaster, if ever there was one. What now? Repulsor beams is what now, aimed at those about to shoot at Superboy. If they don't take them out, they'll at *least* ruin their aim. That...looks almost like Superman, Tony thinks. Almost, but not quite. Younger? He hasn't spoken to Clark in a while...didn't know he had any kid relatives. Superboy quickly notices the cover firing. Energy weapons as well, he quickly notes. Still, it causes him to have to only deflect two laser shots at him and cause damage to the tunnel. He is tempted to use his heat vision, but it would only cause an explosion when it connects with the energy source of a laser rifle. He starts to fight as Black Adam has been teaching him, dropping the cracked and broken laser rifle. He dodges beneath a blast, calling it close as he uses it for cover to come out and start addressing the issue hand-to-hand. He kicks out at a leg, and if it wasn't so noisy, a snap of bone could be hurt, and he moves to punch people out cold - careful not to break skulls as they don't heal as nicely as broken legs do - and elbow another one into a nearby tunnel wall. In the back of his head, Superboy is very thankful for the cover right now, cause laser rifles? They HURT! His force field doesn't protect him from them in the least. Iron Man engages the troopers that had tromped off to start their plan in motion, giving them more than enough to deal with. Their first few shots go through but are deflected, to some more and some less disastrous results. The rest are wildly off aim, until they buckle down and instead start targeting the armored hero. "Damnit! Kill Iron Man, then worry about the boy!" one shouts. And they're trying to do just that. Meanwhile, Superboy starts taking out the shooters that have been hammering at that energy barrier. With the work he has already done, it takes him less than a minute to finally disable, disarm or knock unconscious the last of the attackers. Even as he succeeds, Iron Man will pick up, "The last of the civilians are to the station platform. I am leadings them up to street level for debriefing. It sounds like they have been engaged by someone else. I'm just glad that guy managed to hold them off." When the continued barrage of energy rifle fire finally abates, the armored figure at the train lowers his shield, shaking his head a bit as if to clear phantoms from his eyes. "The innocents are safe now, you knaves! It is time to mete out justice!" At first looking a little wobbly, but clearly determined, the blonde figure lurches up to his feet, raises the shield before him as a sword materializes in his hand from a blue-white glow, and he starts advancing on the shock troopers, ready to lend a hand - or a sword - where it s needed. Iron Man dodges some attacks, takes a couple of others...but it's nothing the suit can't handle. So far. He retaliates with a broad sweep of his repulsor beams, aimed to knock as many of them out as quickly as he can...and not to hit Man-at-Arms, of course. Superboy doesn't show any concern at being witnessed superheroing by a Sentinel. He lets Iron Man handle the rest of the bad guys for now, as he moves toward Man-at-Arms side, "Hey man, calm down. You are wounded, and did a good job protecting the innocent. They are safe now," as he doesn't see anyone about, or hear them but for those involved in combat. "Take a breather, you are hurt, and Iron Man and I aren't." As big as he may be, the guy in armor is young, as Superboy discovers when he approaches him. Big and blonde, he looks like a teenager. His hair is slicked with sweat, his face gleaming in perspiration and chest heaving a bit as he breathes a bit raggedly, as if he is profoundly winded and yet still demanding himself to keep moving. "But ... I can help." he implores Superboy. He doesn't seem wounded so much as just really, really tired. As if holding up that shield drained him of almost all his energy. Iron Man takes up point on the remaining shock troopers, and his repulsors make relatively short work of them in these tight quarters - they have nowhere to go to avoid him, and apparently their energy rifles may be mighty, but they aren't mighty enough to pierce the Iron Man armor. Iron Man lowers his hands. He glances towards both of the teens, then...oh yes. He remembers one of them now. "Superboy, I suggest that you take him somewhere he can rest before the cops show up in force." And before he has to give them the lecture about unregistered vigilanteism. or their age. See...he CAN be reasonable. Sometimes. Superboy knows what it is like to feel drained. "I know you can, but trust in others to help you out in times of need. It's what your fellow heroes are for, to be your allies," Superboy implores in return. Superboy then looks over at Iron Man, "Ummm, ya, cops still give me a hard time. Anyway, tell big sis I said hi, alright?" Superboy grins, covering up his own tiredness. he then says, "You go anything in the train you don't want to leave behind?" His voice is pitched very low for Man-at-Arms. "And I know some of the maintance tunnels in the area, I can hide you for a while, and get you back to the surface." Too tired to argue - and the fight is over, now - the armored figure merely nods, slumping a bit now that his entire motivation for keeping on the up and up is gone. "Alright. Lead the way." He glances back towards the train, and then follows Superboy tiredly. Not so quietly, however: big, heavy, metal clanky armor does not make for stealth. Sorry. "I have everything ... after a fashion." He murmurs, eventually. Gee, this is going to take some explaining, isn't it? "Alright, alright." Superboy easily supports the armored man with...it's strange. Rather than his strength only seeming in one area, it supports Man-at-Arms equally all about him with his tacticle telekinesis. All it took was a touch. "This way, there is a maintance door down this way just a bit. Pity I can't relock it, heat visioned the lock," he says with a bit of a grin. He leaves Iron Man behind to deal with the cops. Man-at-Arms doesn't argue. He needs to get out of here, and he can't exactly change back into Susannah in front of strangers. There's no crowd to blend into and disappear, here. With Superboy's odd tactile telekinesis to help - not that the armored knight knows the term, just the strange effects - he clanks along, into the dark maintenance tunnels and back channels that Superboy apparently knows pretty well. He doesn't ask a lot of questions right now, just lets himself be led along. He's figuring once they get wherever they're going, they'll talk. Or they'll reach some point where this young man wearing an S-shield will point out what street they're on and set him free to make his own way. If Superboy intended him any harm, he'd have done it already. It's all pretty overwhelming. Superboy moves effectively, not letting his own tiredness and strain get to him. He has a duty, and that comes first. It's something the government never did need to beat into his head. He soon pauses and moves to rest you against the wall. "The tracks up here are closed for the next couple days for repairs, but I doubt the construction workers if they see you will give you much of a hard time for you to get topside. It spills into Yuletide Street, in Harlem." He gets on one knee before you, "You giong to be alright by yourself though? You took a beating before I even arrived on the scene, let alone what you were taking when I got there." His concern sounds sincere, and there is a seriousness to his youthful expression, half covered by the red visor sunglasses he wears. The armored knight leans against the wall and breathes, recuperating bit by bit. He offers a winning smile to the dark-haired youth, nodding a bit in response. "I should be fine, given some time to recover. Thank you, for your help, and your concern. What matters most is that we managed to save the civilians, protect the city, and foil those mens' evil plans." Yeah. He sounds just as hokey and corny as he looks. But he also sounds very genuine and sincere: he believes this stuff, and would willingly give his life for it. "Are you a registered hero, like Iron Man?" he questions, curiously. "Or are you unregistered? Like me?" "Umm.....to public knowledge I'm unregistered." But to the government, he is an underage registered hero used for special black ops stuff. So he doesn't really talk about that openly. But Superboy then smiles a bit, "You should like a goof ball, but I like it. You good at public speaking stuff?" He's already rolling ideas around in his head. Arrowette is social and people adore her, but she isn't much on public speaking...but maybe...the Kid suddenly appears very thoughtful. "How old are you? Under eighteen?" Those wide blue eyes narrow a bit at Superboy's chosen wording; he caught the distinction, though he has no way of knowing the reason behind it. Nevertheless, it does put him on edge a bit. "I sound like a goof ball? I should think I sound like a right and proper knight, as that is what I am." Or at least what he believes himself to be, which is all that matters, in the end. "I am under eighteen years of age, yes. I have never spoken in public, but I imagine it would be little different than inspiring warriors on the field of battle. One must speak from the heart, with conviction and purpose. Why do you ask?" "I don't know how proper knights should sound, isn't that a Britian thing? You don't sound British. Least, I think that's the only country with knights still. Anyway, that's not the point," Superboy shakes his head, tot ry and get back on track. "Cause, the Young Justice doesn't really have anyone good with public speaking, and we are going to need someone like that. That can put our thoughts and feelings into not only inspiring words, but words that the public would expect a hero to say. Anyway, do you have E-Mail? I want to talk to Arrowette about my idea before I go making any offers. She's our leader." "Proper knights are a thing well known throughout the worlds, by many different names." What an interesting thing to say. "Nevertheless, I do see your point. Only the extant British Empire and its Commonwealth still recognize the modern title of knighthood. I am not British, by that meaning of the term." So he's not completely clueless about the modern world. "What is this 'Young Justice'? Are they like the old Justice Society, the heroes of the Second World War? Those were real, true heroes. I have studied them." That is the sound of wonderment and awe that can only be ... hero worship. Genuine, bone-deep, hero worship. "I am afraid I do not have the 'e-mail'. Or the cellular phone. An oversight, perhaps." Whoops. This guy must be pretty new to doing the hero thing. That, or he has never bothered trying to do it /with/ anyone. "Dude, don't you read the papers? The Justice Society refounded, you know? So when us teens decided to band together and create our own team, we decided to call it the Young Justice." He then goes on to add, "The Young Justice was in the papers recently beating back an alien invasion recently." He then sighs, "What am I talking about? What teen these days reads the papers or watches the news? Anyway," he provides you with an e-mail address, a simple one. "Just create a username on g-mail or something, and e-mail me from there. I'll contact you with a meeting time and place to meet Arrowette. Give you a umm...week or so to you know, recover." And for him to figure out how he is going to fix things with Arrowette? You know, maybe he will wait for Arrowette to call him, "Or umm...more." The young knight looks at Superboy a bit confusedly. Perhaps Susannah should spend some time reading newsfeed sites after this, to figure out what this young hero is talking about? "I will try to remember. Be well and safe. And thank you, again, for your help." He considers for a bit. "I am Man-at-Arms. You will know me in this way. I and my steed will meet with your Lady Archer, if she would meet us." Steed? This guy seriously says steed? Wow. "Steed? Aw man, I got to see this!" But Superboy just grins and nods, "Sure, I'll look forward to your E-Mail then man." He stands up and then offers a hand down to help you back to your feet. "Just yell my name if you need help after all. I'll stick close enough to hear your call for the next thirty minutes before heading off to go rest myself." Category:Logs